LOVELL
What's Inside ...
Speech and debate
update Page 3
Open houses planned _ Page 6
Grizz, Lady Grizz hot b Page 9
E-waste debated Page 14
LOVELL, WYOMING • VOLUME 106, NUMBER 33 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012 • 75¢
Wanted: 'Bigs' and
'littles' of all ages
BY PATTI CARPENTER
The Big Brothers and Big Sis-
ters organization serving North
Big Horn County held a special
open house on Monday night in
Lovell for people interested in
learning more about the program.
Parents attended with their
children and adults who were in-
terested in becoming volunteers
in the organization enjoyed light
snacks, games and casual conver-
sation. BBBS staff members were
on hand to provide information
about the program that matches
adult volunteers, also known as
"bigs," with children, known as
"littles," who are in need of friend-
ship and a little extra attention.
"All we ask for is one hour a
week to change the life of a young
person," explained program di-
rector Jennifer Prentiss. "A lot
of people think they have to stop
their lives to do something like
this. That's not true at all. For ex-
ample, some of these kids don't
have the opportunity at all to
just spend time in the backyard
gardening. So, if you're garden-
ing for the afternoon, have your
"little: come along with you and
teach them about gardening. If
you're going to the grocery store,
take them along and teach them
about nutrition. It doesn't have to
be something out of your ordinary
routine."
Prentiss pointed out that a
lot of the children in the program
don't have the opportunities that :::: :: :
many take for granted and would
appreciate just spending time
with someone who will listen and
take an interest in them.
"A lot of these kids never get PATh CARPENTER
to go fishing or even go for a walk BBBS program director Jennifer Prentiss visits with 5-year-
because of limited resources or be- old Elijah Fuentes at a special open house held in Lovell on
cause their parents have disabili- Monday evening.
ties or other reasons that keep
them from doing these activities school once a week and numer- ior and more likely to go to col-
with their kids," said Prentiss. ous opportunities to volunteer in lege," explained Prentiss. "The
There are many volunteer op- after-school programs and camps, statistics are astronomical after
portunities to participate in the All levels of involvement require that one year period of time."
program. To become a big sister an adult to undergo a complete Brian Dickson of Lovell is a
or big brother requires a mini- background check including a fin- "lunch buddy" to a middle school
mum of one hour a week and gerprint check, student. He meets his young
Prentiss asks for a commitment "Our statistics show that once friend once a week for lunch. He
of a year. There is also a lunch a match lasts a year or more, the says it takes about a half hour of
buddy program where an adult child is less likely to do drugs, is
can have lunch with a child at less likely to exhibit risky behav- See 'gIGS & LIrII.F.$' page 8
Town awarded Main
Street design grant
BY DAVID PECK "They didn't have enough
The Town of Lovell took a big money for the full amount," Dick-
step toward accomplishing the fi-
nal stage of the water and sewer
infrastructure project - the Main
Street Phase of the project - last
Thursday when the State Loan
and Investment Board voted to
grant the town $660,500 for de-
signing the project.
Thursday's meeting was at-
tended by councilmen Brian Dick-
son and Kevin Jones, along with
project engineer Frank Page.
Dickson said the town has
applied for total funding for the
project, more than $4 million, but
SLIB staff members recommend-
ed that the town instead seek
money for planning and design
only at this time, given the lim-
ited amount of money SLIB had
to allocate.
son said, adding that the Wyo-
ming Water Development Com-
mission is also granting some
$67,000 to the design process.
He said the town will! now meet
with Wyoming Dept. of Transpor-
tation District Engineer Shelby
Carlson about timing for the proj-
ect, which will replace water and
sewer mains down Main Street at
the same time WyDOT performs
a street refurbishment project on
Main.
Dickson said he hopes the
project can be done in 2013.
As the planning, design and
engineering process proceeds for
the Main Street Phase, the town
will resubmit a grant application
to SLIB and the WWDC for con-
struction, Dickson said.
Details of Cowley animal
ordinance hammered out
BY PATTI CARPENTER
A handful of residents met
with Cowley's Mayor Joel Pe-
terson and members of the town
council on Tuesday night to re-
fine the details of an ordinance
that will regulate how livestock
is kept within the town's borders.
Members of the council offered a
few suggestions to the proposed
ordinance that was presented to
them by a group of concerned ani-
mal owners earlier in the month.
One audience member com-
mented that the smaller than
usual turnout was indicative of
the confidence the animal owners
group had in the council to "do
the right thing."
The council proposed that vio-
lators be allowed 30 days instead
of five to bring their property into
compliance after a citation is is-
sued. Surprisingly, animal own-
ers attending asked the council to
keep the short timeframe.
"I think we should keep the
five days because then people will
know we are serious when we ask
them to get in compliance," said
Rosanna Rusch.
Peterson added that, "If ani-
mals owners feel they can comply
in that time frame, it should be
written that way."
Another suggestion made by
council member Dexter Woodis
was that the ordinance should al-
low an animal control officer to
issue a citation or letter or some
other more immediate type of
warning when necessary. He also
thought an animal control officer
should be added to the definitions
section of the ordinance, even
though the town has no budget
for one at this time.
Some council members felt
an agent of the town should be al-
lowed to go on the property at any
time, as well, to inspect for com-
pliance and to enforce provisions
of the ordinance when necessary.
This was also added to the oridi-
nance.
It was recommended that
new permits should expire at the
end of the same year, not the fol-
lowing year as it was written.
For the first time, voices of
non-animal owners were present.
A very civil discussion ensued be-
tween animal owners and non-
See 'COWLEY ORDINANCE'
page8
Game and Fish proposes cutthroat trout reintroduction for Porcupine Creek
BY DAVID PECK
A proposal to reintroduce the
Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout to
the Porcupine Creek drainage
in the Big Horn National For-
est above Porcupine Falls was
the topic of a presentation to the
Lovell Area Chamber of Com-
merce Monday.
Wyoming Game and Fish
fisheries biologist Mark Smith
explained that he is taking what
he emphasized is only a proposal
at this time to various groups in
order to let the public know what
the idea is and to receive input.
"This kind of change may
cause anxiety among people close
to the resource," Smith said. "But
it's simply an idea we're present-
ing to people to get feedback."
The reintroduction will only
affect the Porcupine drainage
about the falls, which Smith said
act as a perfect isolating mecha-
nism for the project.
Smith said the Game and
Fish proposal is what he called
a "flavor change" to change the
fishery from the non-native brook
trout to the native Yellowstone
Cutthroat.
The brook trout is not native
to the Western United States and
rather is native to the Appala-
chian Mountains and the Great
Lakes region. It was introduced
in the West from around 1900 to
1930 and reached the Porcupine
drainage around 1932, he said.
Fisheries biologist Mark Smith (back of room) talks to the Lovell Area Chambc
about re-establishing the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout during the chal
membership meeting Monday.
"The brook trout does real-
ly well in cold water mountain
streams like those in the Big
Horns," Smith said, "sometimes
too well. They are really good at
reproducing."
Brookies multiply so rapid-
ly that they overpopulate small
streams and "eat all the food,"
Smith said, stunting the fishery.
In Porcupine Creek, the brook
trout average only 5½ to 6 inch-
es in length, an
is 12 inches, Sn
Yellowstone
also do well i]
streams, but t[
well with other
PATti CARPENTER
r of Commerce
aber's general
l a really big one
iith said.
Cutthroats
high mountain
y don't compete
rout, Smith said,
adding, 'Tou can't let any other
fish be with them or they will dis-
appear." Alone, he said, they re-
produce well, but they don't over-
populate the stream.
Whereas brook trout will fill
a stream with 2,500 fish per mile,
cutthroats top out at 800 to 900
fish per mile, Smith said, so they
are able to grow larger, averag-
ing seven to eight inches with in-
dividuals up to 14 or 15 inches in
length.
"You have fewer fish but big-
ger fish," Smith said.
Smith told of a raft trip down
the Big Horn River in 1893 dur-
ing which an avid fisherman on
the expedition fished Porcupine
Creek at its confluence with the
Big Horn and caught 25 cut-
throat trout ranging from 18
to 25 inches in length. He said
the fisherman may have exag-
gerated the size of the fish, but
the story shows the kind of fish-
ery that once existed. He said in
the 1890s cutthroats also thrived
in drainages like the No Wood,
Shell Creek, Crooked Creek and
others.
Smith said after the turn of
the century people got very good
at propagating fish, learning that
fish eggs could be easily trans-
ported in milk cans loaded with
ice. He said people took a "John-
ny Appleseed" approach, spread-
See 'CUTTHROATS' page 8
